Spellbook of remove curse

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Revision as of 11:40, 21 March 2019 by Umbire the Phantom (talk | contribs) (Reads better this way)
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spellbook of
+   remove curse   Light green spellbook.png
Appearance random
Abundance 2.54%
Base price 300 zm
Weight 50
Turns to read 10
Ink to write 15–29
Spell type clerical
Level 3
Power cost 15 Pw
Direction non-directional
Equivalent scroll of remove curse
Special for priest

At unskilled or basic level this spell acts similar to (see warning below) an uncursed scroll of remove curse. At skilled or expert, like a blessed scroll (see Limitations below). This spell can be helpful late in the game against Rodney, who likes to use the monster spell Curse items to curse your inventory.

This is an emergency spell. It is also the special spell for priests.

Limitations

The spell is much more limited than the scroll because you cannot cast a spell if you:

  • are confused
  • (as of 3.6.1) are strangled
  • wield a cursed 2-handed weapon
  • wield a cursed weapon and a cursed shield
  • wear enough cursed metal armor (or a dunce cap) to raise your spell failure rate.

It's a good idea to keep a scroll of remove curse because it still works in the above circumstances. Even if your spell failure wearing the cursed piece of armor or clothing is well below 100%, waiting to recharge your power between tries is annoying.

Strategy

To uncurse any item within your inventory, wield the cursed item - you have to specify the inventory letter directly or press * to get the full list of your inventory, rather than the recommended weapons - and then cast the spell. The wielded item will then be uncursed.

Remove curse is a very useful utility spell, allowing you to pick items up and try non-metallic armor on liberally (other than dunce caps); if it turns out to be cursed, just uncurse it and take it off. Before 3.6.1, this spell also worked on the amulet of strangulation, but currently being strangled also disables spellcasting, so keep that in mind. Although it is mostly outclassed in this regard by the identify spell, which you can cast beforehand to check items' BUC status (as well as identifying it), it can remove curses already in place and those created by the curse items monster spell; for this reason, it becomes useful again late in the game for uncursing items cursed by the Wizard of Yendor, liches, and other high level spellcasters.

You only benefit to this spell from enhancing clerical spell casting from Basic to Skilled (uncurses your whole inventory at once) if:

  • You need to uncurse more than one item at a time (uses less power)
  • You want to uncurse a cursed 2-handed item *in your inventory* (you can't cast if you wield it).

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.

It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.0. Information on this page may be out of date.

Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-360}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.